Guitar bridges that are affixed to the body of the guitar and separate elements secured to the body of a guitar are known.
Referring to FIG. 1, a tailpiece 2 is mounted on a body of a guitar and holds the ball end of strings 5. The tailpiece 2 provides the mechanical strength for the tension of the strings against the body of the guitar. The strings 5 then pass over a bridge 3 which is used to set the intonation of the guitar at the bridge so the guitar can be properly tuned. The bridge also supports the strings the proper distance from the fretboard/neck 7. It also has to be strong enough to support the considerable downward string tension often over 200 lbs. In an electric guitar, the strings 5 will also pass over one or more magnetic coils or pickups 10. The pickups 10 are used to convert string vibration into electrical energy that is sent to an amplifier (not shown). The strings then extend over the neck 7 and frets 12 and pass over a nut 6 to tuning pegs 8 in the headstock 9. The tuning pegs 8 are adjustable to increase or decrease the tension of the strings 5 to effectively tune the guitar to a variety of guitar tunings. Between the nut 6 and the bridge 3 are the frets 12 between which the strings 5 are depressed to affect string 5 length to thereby change the frequency at which that particular string vibrates producing pitch.
The material of the body 1, neck and fret board 7 material, size and design of the head stock 9, tuning pegs 8 mass, the quality of the pickups 10, the type and adjustment of the tailpiece 2, the accuracy of the placement of the strings 5 above the fretboard 7, the placement of the frets 12, and the quality, materials, design, and adjustment of the bridge 3 are all important to the overall sound of the guitar.
It is established (old) to provide bridges with longitudinally adjustable saddles to adjust string nodal points as for example U.S. Pat. No. 9,346,78 issued in 1909 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,740,313 issued in 1956.
What is needed is a bridge design that allows its components material composition to be that of less rigid materials such as wood, bone, or manmade materials in addition to metals for their influence on tone and feel while still maintaining longitudinally adjustable saddles for string nodal point adjustment.
What is needed is a bridge whose saddles and bridge bar are of sufficient mass to withstand string tension when constructed in less rigid materials such as wood, bone, and man-made materials.
What is needed is a bridge that enables the user control over the influence of its separate components for their combined influence on tone and feel for each individual string.
What is needed is a bridge that enables the user to interchange its separate components for their combined influence on tone and feel quickly and easily making it practical to do at recording sessions, in-between performance sets, and instances where time is a concern.
What is needed is a curved bridge bar that preferably follows the curvature of the neck without unnecessary engineering and manufacturing costs.
What is needed is a bridge whose bridge bar has enough balanced mass from string to string to allow equal influence from its string saddle components.
What is needed is a bridge whose saddle mass to bridge bar mass ratio is calculated to allow its material composition to influence tone and feel relative to material composition of its separate components.
What is needed is a bridge that contains as few parts and contact points as is possible to eliminate noise and unwanted vibration that can also alter intonation settings.
What is needed is a bridge that allows the user to adjust string spacing without the negative impact lateral tension exerted on the saddle by the strings' descent to the tailpiece imposes on the transmission of vibration to the instrument.
What is needed is a bridge whose saddles eliminate angular and compound angular string bends.
What is needed is a bridge that assures maximum string vibration transfer at the saddle while optimizing the influence each individual saddle material provides to tone and feel.
What is needed is a bridge whose bridge bar allows the chosen saddle material to influence each string it supports with less influence from its neighboring saddle material.
What is needed is a bridge that allows for the string's unobstructed descent to the tailpiece.
What is needed is a bridge that incorporates elements that provide comfort during hand to bridge contact and while palm muting.
What is needed is a bridge that eliminates out-dated, unnecessary, and complicated engineering.
What is needed is a bridge that eliminates unwanted vibration and maintains close tolerances in the 100ths or 1000ths of an inch without prohibitive manufacturing costs.
The SaddleRail Bridge disclosed herein fulfills these needs.